History 5330: Historiography Dr
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History 5330: Historiography Dr. Andrew Lannen Fall 2020 Office: 309 Liberal Arts North Phone: 468-2072 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Virtual Office Hours TBA Class time and Location: Mondays, 6:00pm-8:30pm via Zoom Course Description Survey of the literature of history; intensive studies of the style and philosophy of leading historians; the nature and extent of material for writing history. Required Books Anna Green and Kathleen Troup ed., The Houses of History: A Critical Reader in Twentieth-Century History and Theory 2nd ed. (Glasgow, 2016). Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre (Cambridge, Mass., 1983). Sam Wineburg, Why Learn History When It’s Already on Your Phone (Chicago, 2018). Articles and Book Chapters In addition to books, we will read and discuss multiple articles and book chapters in order to get a wide sampling of the arguments and approaches in history. PDF copies of articles and individual book chapters are available sorted by week on D2L. Grading Scale 50% Weekly Response Papers 30% Class Discussion Leadership/Participation 20% Term Paper Program Learning Outcomes The SFA History Department has identified the following Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) for all SFA students earning an M.A. degree in History: 1. The student will be able to explain the key issues and developments in at least two historical periods (one per course). 2. The student will be able to identify the main historical works and interpretive debates associated with an event or period. 3. The student will be able to locate, identify, and critically analyze primary sources. 1 | Page 4. The student will be able to research and analyze effectively an issue or topic in writing. 5. The student will be able to present written work in an appropriate academic style, including the proper citation of sources using Chicago Manual of Style (17th or most recent edition). This section of this course will focus on PLOs 1, 2, 4, and 5. Student Learning Outcomes By the conclusion of the course, students will 1. Demonstrate an understanding of historiography and its importance to the study of history. 2. Analyze historical works from several different schools of historical thought. 3. Evaluate progression of the history profession from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. Explanation of credit hours awarded for course: This is a graduate-level history course. SFA Graduate courses in history generally meet 150 minutes a week for 15 weeks, and also meets for a 2- hour final examination or seminar presentation. Students are expected to complete weekly reading assignments of primary and secondary sources (books, scholarly articles, book reviews, etc.). Completion and comprehension of the readings is assessed through seminar style discussions, in-class presentations, and out-of-class writing assignments, including response papers, historiographical essays, annotated bibliographies, and research papers. Students are typically required to conduct a significant research project, including a research plan, an assessment of sources relevant to the project, class presentations in which they report on the progress of their project, and a final research paper. Formal written work over the course of the semester ranges from 30-35 pages. Course instructors are required to hold regular scheduled office hours to make themselves available to consult with students as needed. Doing the required reading, completing out-of-class writing assignments, and consulting with course instructors generally averages at least 10-12 hours of work each week. Online sections of graduate courses contain extensive written content within modules, and instructors hold "electronic office hours" to consult with students as needed, generally responding to student inquiries within twenty-four hours. Online course content includes the same information students in a face-to-face lecture course receive, requiring students to engage the online modules for at least 150 minutes per week. Besides engaging the material in the modules, online students have outside reading assignments similar to those mentioned above for face-to-face students. 2 | Page Class Discussion Leadership and Participation This seminar is centered around reading and discussion. You are expected to do all of the readings for each week, and to contribute meaningfully to discussions of those readings. Answers and exchanges should be thought- provoking, vigorous, and challenging, though above all, respectful of disagreement amongst each other. While attendance is not formally taken as such, missing multiple classes will prevent you from fully participating in class discussions, a major graded element of the course. Each student will help to lead the class discussion on three occasions during the semester. Discussion leaders will need to be more prepared than average since they will have primary responsibility for generating and maintaining active discussion through questions, challenges to readings, bold statements for others to refute or support, etc. Signup will occur prior to the second class. Note that there are three leader slots for each week, meaning that you most likely will partner with two or more of your classmates to share the burden. Response Papers Each week you will write a response paper that is approximately 3-4 double spaced pages in length. Papers will critically analyze that week’s readings and the author will engage and evaluate the ideas offered. This is not a summarization exercise. Instead, I want you to evaluate the arguments, compare the various author's points of view or approaches, arrive at conclusions of your own, and support your conclusions. Papers for each week’s readings are due at the beginning of the class meeting. For example, the paper on “Objectivity” is due by the beginning of class on August 31. Papers should be uploaded to the appropriate D2L dropbox for that week. Term Paper Each student will complete an end of term paper covering a significant historiographical debate, a prominent historian, or the reception and impact of a major historical work. You will see several examples of historiographical articles as models during the semester. All topics must be approved by the professor in advance. Papers should be approximately 8-10 double-spaced pages in length and should be formatted according to the standard for history as a discipline, The Chicago Manual of Style (currently in its 17th edition). If you are not yet familiar with CMOS formatting and citations, this is an excellent opportunity for you to research them and learn. Term papers are due via D2L by 6:00pm on Friday, December 11. Academic Integrity (A-9.1) Academic integrity is a responsibility of all university faculty and students. Faculty members promote academic integrity in multiple ways including instruction on the components of academic honesty, as well as abiding by university policy on penalties for cheating and plagiarism. 3 | Page Definition of Academic Dishonesty Academic dishonesty includes both cheating and plagiarism. Cheating includes but is not limited to (1) using or attempting to use unauthorized materials to aid in achieving a better grade on a component of a class; (2) the falsification or invention of any information, including citations, on an assigned exercise; and/or (3) helping or attempting to help another in an act of cheating or plagiarism. Plagiarism is presenting the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own. Examples of plagiarism are (1) submitting an assignment as if it were one's own work when, in fact, it is at least partly the work of another; (2) submitting a work that has been purchased or otherwise obtained from an Internet source or another source; and (3) incorporating the words or ideas of an author into one's paper without giving the author due credit. Please read the complete policy at http://www.sfasu.edu/policies/academic_integrity.asp Withheld Grades (Semester Grades Policy, A-54) Ordinarily, at the discretion of the instructor of record and with the approval of the academic chair/director, a grade of WH will be assigned only if the student cannot complete the course work because of unavoidable circumstances. Students must complete the work within one calendar year from the end of the semester in which they receive a WH, or the grade automatically becomes an F. If students register for the same course in future terms the WH will automatically become an F and will be counted as a repeated course for the purpose of computing the grade point average. Students with Disabilities To obtain disability related accommodations, alternate formats and/or auxiliary aids, students with disabilities must contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS), Human Services Building, and Room 325, 468-3004 / 468- 1004 (TDD) as early as possible in the semester. Once verified, ODS will notify the course instructor and outline the accommodation and/or auxiliary aids to be provided. Failure to request services in a timely manner may delay your accommodations. For additional information, go to http://www.sfasu.edu/disabilityservices/ Schedule of Meetings and Readings August 24 Introduction (No readings or paper due today!) August 31 Objectivity: Possible, or even Desirable? Discussion Leaders __________________ 4 | Page __________________ __________________ Required Readings: 1. Green and Troup, Houses of History, Chapter 1 (p. 1-46). 2. Lord Macaulay on History, 1828. 3. Leopold von Ranke, Excerpts from his writings. 4. Edward Hallett Carr, What is History? (New York, 1961), Chapter 1, “The Historian and His Facts,” pp. 3-35. 5. John Tosh and Sean Lang, The Pursuit of History 4th edition (New York, 2006), Chapter 7 “The Limits of Historical Knowledge,” pp. 173-193. 6. Richard T. Vann, “Historians and Moral Evaluations,” History and Theory 43(Dec 2004): 3-30. September 7 Progressive vs. Consensus Historians Discussion Leaders __________________ __________________ __________________ Required Readings: Theory: 1. Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The ‘Objectivity Question’ and the American Historical Profession (New York, 1988), pp.